The present invention relates to controlling the direction of travel of watercraft, and more particularly to a docking mechanism for watercraft such as barges and other water-borne vessels which require their direction of travel to be controlled to particular points, for example, to a proper position for loading or unloading cargo.
The problem of controlling the direction of travel of watercraft during a docking operation, for example, is one of long standing. If, for example, the proper degree of control is not maintained the chances of damage to both the watercraft and the shore installation as well as the threat to personnel safety, are enhanced. It is for at least this reason that docking operations are quite time consuming, and most often require guiding vessels for practically the complete docking operation.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have a way of controlling the direction of travel of watercraft during a docking operation so that the accompanying adverse aspects mentioned above are substantially eliminated.